State Extends Well Water Limits

Peninsula Added To Covered Area

September 26, 1989|By DAVID LERMAN Staff Writer

RICHMOND — The State Water Control Board, dealing a blow to Peninsula officials worried about future water supplies, unanimously approved regulations Monday that will restrict the amount of ground water that can be withdrawn from most large wells.

The measure, designed to better conserve what everyone agrees is an increasingly scarce commodity, will expand to the Peninsula the regulations currently in effect in southside Hampton Roads and weigh the Peninsula's water needs against those of the Norfolk area.

Under the program, called a ground water management area, local governments and private users of large quantities of water will need state permits before digging wells. Agricultural uses are exempted from the restrictions.

Local officials from across the Peninsula had fought the program since its inception, saying it would unfairly divert this area's shrinking water supply to southside localities and make an already scarce water source all the more undependable.

But state officials, while voicing some sympathy for those concerns, said Monday that their program, however flawed, is better than no program at all.

"I think ultimately the ground water management area does protect the use of water so that when an emergency is there, you have a water supply," said Board Chairman Patrick L. Standing. "Although it may look like an intrusion on somebody's water, I think it would be the best decision for everyone."

The decision, while opposed by all Peninsula localities, came as a particularly harsh setback for James City County, which relies entirely on ground water, except for the small portion of the county served by the Newport News waterworks.

"It's of grave concern to the county and it should be of grave concern to private landowners," said James C. Dawson, James City's environmental engineer. "It means we're caught between a rock and a hard place."

The county had hoped to avoid depending on ground water by building a reservoir at Ware Creek, but that effort was stymied in July when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency vetoed the plan because it would destroy wetlands. The county has taken the matter to court, but even a ruling in favor of James City would tie up construction of the reservoir for a year or more.

If a reservoir cannot be built and the state begins denying the county ground water permits, Dawson said, "What other alternative is there?"

It is not clear how restrictive the state will be in evaluating well permits. In the 14 years that a ground water management area has been imposed for southside Hampton Roads, no permits have been denied, although some have been "reduced substantially," according to Virginia Newton, a state geologist.

The state restrictions could threaten the viability of the huge residential and commercial development proposed for some 7,200 acres in James City and New Kent counties. That project, called Stonehouse, assumed that the Ware Creek reservoir would be built, or that the development would have easy access to ground water.

Dawson said he fears state permits for such projects will be rejected because the water control board does not regard new developments as qualifying for an "emergency use" of water.

"Stonehouse could be an interesting test case," he said. "It could become a real benchmark."

The developer of Stonehouse decided this month to postpone a rezoning request until March after voicing concerns about the quality of available ground waater.

David L. Morris II, planning and programs manager for Newport News Waterworks, said he was disappointed but not surprised by the state's decision. Morris, like other local officials, criticized the state plan as having too many "loopholes," such as exempting farmers from water restrictions and preserving the rights of southside localities to pump water at limits well above their current usage.

"You just can't set up a management area and not manage it totally," Morris said.

But Richard N. Burton, executive director of the water control board, said those loopholes can only be closed by getting the General Assembly to pass legislation. "Even though we do agree there are flaws in the law, there's no reason not to go ahead with this with the tools that we have," he said.

The ground water management area will take effect within 30 days, officials said.